Universal support for the needle cooling group of a sewing machine

ABSTRACT

A universal support for one or more nozzles of a needle cooling device applicable to all types of single or multi-needle sewing machines. The universal support includes a cooling air distributor to which one or more air cooling nozzles can be connected and which can be independently adjusted in a generally vertical direction as well as the direction at which they direct the cooling air emitted therefrom.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,910,210 Marforio Oct. 7, 1975 [54]UNIVERSAL SUPPORT FOR THE NEEDLE 2,690,148 9/1954 Adams 112/218 RCOOLING GROUP OF A SEWING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Nerino Mari'orio,Milan, Italy [73] Assignee: Virginio Rimoldi & C. S.p.A., Milan,

Italy [22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 452,721

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 12, 1973 Italy 22905/73 [52]US. Cl 112/218 R [51] Int. Cl. D05B 71/04 [58] Field of Search 112/218R, DIG. 2, DIG. 3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,669,207 2/1954 Happe112/218 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,259,231 3/1961 France112/218 R Primary Examiner- H. Hampton Hunter [57] ABSTRACT A universalsupport for one or more nozzles of a needle cooling device applicable toall types of single or multi-needle sewing machines. The universalsupport includes a cooling air distributor to which one or more aircooling nozzles can be connected and which can be independently adjustedin a generally vertical direction as well as the direction at which theydirect the cooling air emitted therefrom.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 7 Sheet 1 of 3 Oct. 7,1975

US. Patent U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,910,210

UNIVERSAL SUPPORT FOR THE NEEDLE COOLING GROUP OF A SEWING MACHINEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the needlecooling device of a sewing machine to prevent excessive heating of theneedle caused by friction between the needles and the cloth and/orbetween the moving thread and the needle eye through which it is drawn.

More particular, the present invention relates to a universal supportfor the cooling nozzles, which can be applied to any type of single ormulti-needle sewing machine, in which the needles are disposed in eitheraligned or stepped relation.

The excessive heating of the needles, especially when sewing syntheticfabrics may cause either the melting of the fabric or the breaking ofthe thread passing through the needle eye and will reduce considerablythe mechanical resistance of the needles.

In certain cases it is therefore necessary to assure proper cooling ofthe needles and different systems have been designed for this purpose,for example directing air cooling jets toward the needles from apredetermined direction to dissipate excess heat.

In known needle cooling systems, one or at the most two nozzles arecarried by a clamp formed by two contiguously disposed plate elementshaving on the mating surfaces thereof two aligned half-round recessesfor supporting two nozzles. The plates are connected together by meansof a screw and a resilient washer with a threaded hole allowing thefrictional rotation of the nozzles with respect to the remaining part ofthe support that is fixed to the sewing machine head.

Supports of this type have the following drawbacks:

They allow the application of only two cooling nozzles and which limitsthe effectiveness thereof to sewing machines having only one or twoneedles;

The distance between the two nozzles is fixed and the two nozzles can beswivelled only simultaneously and not one independent of the other one;for this reason the supports serve only for sewing machines having thesame needle distance; 7

Each nozzle requires a separate air feed line resulting in an excessiveamount of space being taken up in the area of the needles by theseparate lines and connections to each cooling nozzle;

It is very difficult to remove the nozzle support for the threading-inof the needles without having to readjust the nozzles upon re-assemblyof the support to its intended location.

It is the main object of the present invention to eliminate theabove-mentioned drawbacks by providing a support which can be fitted toany type of sewing machine regardless of the number, arrangement andinclination of the needles.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide each needlewith a cooling nozzle which can be independently adjusted to direct itsair from different angles and heights relative to its respective needle.

A still further object is to provide a means whereby all the nozzles canbe moved from their active position simultaneously during threading inof the needles and returned to their active position without having toreadjust them in that position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION the present invention includes a multi-waydistributor which is adapted to permit simplified connection of one ormore nozzles with the capability of positioning them independently onefrom the other, to adjust the distance between the nozzles and theneedles as well as the distance of each nozzle from the needle plate.

This universal cooling device support includes a first angular elementprovided with means for fixing the cooling device to the sewing machineand for regulating its height. A second angular element rotatablyassembles to the first element and is provided with an arm pointing in adirection perpendicular to the line of feed of the fabric to be sewn. Adistributor unit is fixed to this arm and is provided with one or morepipes complete with cooling nozzles. The second angular element isprovided with means which permits the distributor to be pivoted to andfrom its operative position and the distributor unit is connected bymeans of a flexible feed line to a suitable source of compressed air.

Further details and advantages of the present invention will become morefully apparent by reference to the appended claims and as the followingdetailed description proceeds in reference to the figures of drawingwherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of the supportaccording to the present invention applied to a conventional sewingmachine;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the support applied to the sewing machine ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the support in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is asectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2,the device according to the present invention is shown applied to asewing machine, comprising in general a head 1 formed at the free end ofan arm 2 connected with a column 3 toa working surface 4 formed on topof the base 5. This head is provided with the usual presser bar 6, atthe lower end of which there is a presserfoot 7. Forward of the presserbar 6 there are the known upper sewing components, which include a pairof needles 8. The cooling device 9 includes a first angular element 10fixed to the head 1 by means of a screw 11 passing through a slot-likehole 12. A second angular element 13 is fixed to the lower part of thefirst angular element 10 (FIG. 4) with a screw 14 and a nut 15. Afriction ring 16 is inserted between the screw 14 and the second angularelement 13, whereby said friction ring 16 permits controlled rotation ofsaid second angular element around a vertical axis 17. The secondangular element 13 has an integral arm 18 extending perpendicular to theline of feed of the fabric to be sewn, as indicated in FIG. 2 by thearrow A. Arm 18 is provided with two slots 19 (FIGS. 1 and 3) throughwhich screws 20 extend for assembling the body of a compressed airdistributor 21 thereto. This distributor 21 includes a first bodyportion 22 having a manifold channel 23 (FIGS. 4 and 5), from which fourparallel and uniformly spaced discharge channels 24 extend and of asecond body portion 25 having an L-shaped cross-section having fourchannels 26 which are coaxial to the discharge channels 24. The manifold23 is connected through a coupling 27 and pipe 28 with a conventionalcompressed air source complete with the standard control shown in FIG. 5the two outer discharge channels 24 are provided with downwardlydirected pipes 31 the lower ends of which define nozzles 32 directedtoward the zone of theneedles; and each of the two center dischargechannels have a plug pin 33 assembled therein. The pipes 31 are slidablyassembled in the channels 24 and are rotatable about their own axis forthe selective positioning of the nozzles 32 with respect to the needlesof the sewing machine. The sealing rings 30 provide the required sealfor the compressed air and permit the above-mentioned selectivepositioning of the pipes 31 without loss of air. The advantages of theabovedescribed support are made possible by the ability to vary orcontrol the positions of the support and of the nozzle as follows:

1. by vertical displacement of the complete cooling unit 9 by raising orlowering the first angular element 10' mounted on the head 1 of thesewing machine within the limits of slot 12 in said first angularelement;

2. by rotation of the second angular element 13 around its vertical axis17 so as to rotate the distributor 21 with its nozzles away from theoperating position and facilitate the threading up of the needles or anyother operation required. The return of the distributor 21 to itsoperating position is controlled by a stop pin 34 which assures-theprecise positioning of said distributor in the operating position (FIGS.3 and 4);

3. by lateral displacement of the distributor 21 within the limits ofslots 19 on the arm 18 for regulating the distance of said distributorrespectively to the vertical rotational axis of the said second angularelement and to the vertical axis of the needles; I

4. by the independent rotation of the pipes 31 around their own axes forpositioning the nozzles 32;

by the longitudinal displacement of the pipes 31 along the dischargechannels 24 of the distributor 21 for adjusting the height of thenozzles with respect to the needle plate with the air jet so as todirect the air from 'said nozzles at a desired area of the needle andis' particularly advantageous for machines having the needles at aheightdiffering from that of the needle plate.

The description of this preferred embodiment of the support according tothe present invention refers to a two-needle sewing machine and itshould be understood that the support can also be used for three andfour-needlesewing machines by simply removing the plug pin 33 andsubstituting them with a pipe 31. It is possible to use two pipes withnozzles for the two center channels, or one center and one outer channelaccording to the distance between the needles and whatever distance itis desired to have between needle and nozzle. When having stepped needlecondition, one or more nozzles may be directed toward the needle mostremote from the distributor to increase the efficiency of the needlecooling.

lclaim: i

1. Auniversalsuppoit for the cooling unit of a multineedle sewingmachine comprising:

a. a first angular element adjustably attached to the sewing machine;

b. a secondangular element rotatably connected to said first angularelement;

c. an air distributor carried on said second angular element and havinga single source of air supply;

d. a plurality of air discharge channels in said distributor;

e. a plurality of pipes individually rotatable and longitudinallyadjustable carried in and extendingfrom said discharge channels havingnozzles forming the outer ends thereof and movable with said distributoron said second angular element to and from a position for directing theair emitted therefrom to the needles of the sewing machine.

2. The universal support according to claim 1 wherein said airdistributor includes a, sealing ring operatively associated with each ofsaid air discharge channels through which saidpipes extend.

3. The universal support according to claim 1 wherein said secondangular element. being rotatably connected to said first angular elementincludes a friction ring intermediate said elements for effectingselective manual rotatable movement of said second angular element.

4. The universal support according to claim 1 wherein said airdistributor includes means defining plug pins for selective assembly inthose discharge channels from which air is not required.

l l l

1. A universal support for the cooling unit of a multi-needle sewingmachine comprising: a. a first angular element adjustably attached tothe sewing machine; b. a second angular element rotatably connected tosaid first angular element; c. an air distributor carried on said secondangular element and having a single source of air supply; d. a pluralityof air discharge channels in said distributor; e. a plurality of pipesindividually rotatable and longitudinally adjustable carried in andextending from said discharge channels having nozzles forming the outerends thereof and movable with said distributor on said second angularelement to and from a position for directing the air emitted therefromto the needles of the sewing machine.
 2. The universal support accordingto claim 1 wherein said air distributor includes a sealing ringoperatively associated with each of said air discharge channels throughwhich said pipes extend.
 3. The universal support according to claim 1wherein said second angular element being rotatably connected to saidfirst angular element includes a friction ring intermediate saidelements for effecting selective manual rotatable movement of saidsecond angular element.
 4. The universal support according to claim 1whErein said air distributor includes means defining plug pins forselective assembly in those discharge channels from which air is notrequired.